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Ukraine Probing Serbian pro-Russian Fighters, Report Says

June 27, 201812:25
Ukraine's General Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation into 54 suspected members of a pro-Russian foreign legion – including several Serbs – who took part in attacks on Ukraine's forces in the east of the country from 2014 on, Radio Free Europe has reported.

A report published by Radio Free Europe on Wednesday said Ukraine was investigating a far-right group of 54 pro-separatist fighters – including six Serbs – who took part in attacks on Ukrainian forces in the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk from July 2014 onwards.

The 54 illegal fighters were all allegedly part of a foreign legion called the “Unité Continentale”, [Continental brigade], the RFE report said.

A document from the Ukrainian Prosecutor’s Office, cited by RFE, lists six Serbs among the group of 54 paramilitaries – who include 10 Italian nationals and 21 fighters from Spain.

The six Serbs include Radomir Pocuca, a former special police spokesperson, who over several months of fighting in Ukraine posted regular videos, photos and other entries related to his time in Donetsk. Pocuca was arrested on his return in Serbia and given an 18-month conditional jail sentence in 2016.

Among others on the list is the self-proclaimed commander of Serbian “Chetnik” paramilitary forces, Bratislav Zivkovic, who was expelled from Romania in November 2017, for alleged spying.

The Romanian Intelligence Service, SRI, said Zivkovic had fought in the Crimea in 2014-2015 in support of Russia’s intervention there, and had also been active in rebel-held parts of eastern Ukraine in Donetsk and Lugansk.

Zivkovic was banned from entering Romania for 15 years for spying on NATO military bases in southeast Romania and for showing interest in obtaining classified information on military installations.

“Romania has banned my entry for the next 15 years because of the fear of their secret service that I could jeopardize their national security,” Zivkovic wrote on Facebook then.

He insisted that there was no evidence that he had actually spied in Romania because, according to him, the state would have launched a court case against him.

“Documents I got from the Romanian Immigration office clearly show that main motives for the entry ban for the next 15 years are my activities in Crimea and Donbass, as well as fear of potential spying activities in Romania,” he added.

The RFE report said that the Ukrainian authorities, with the aim of gathering more information about the unit, had first informed their competent counterparts in the US, France, Spain, Italy, the Czech Republic, Moldova, Finland and Serbia about it in 2017.

The unit is one of several freelance paramilitary organisations involved in fighting on the pro-Russian side in Ukraine.

It was reportedly founded by four French nationals who espouse an ideology called Neo-Eurasianism, or Continentalism, which calls for the unity of great nations in Europe, for rejection of the US and for the downfall of the EU.

Ukraine has raised its concerns about Serbian fighters on its territory before. Its ambassador to Serbia, Oleksandr Aleksandrovych, in November 2017 told BIRN that Serbia was not doing enough to stop its citizens from fighting in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian forces have carved out their own unrecognised statelet.

He added that Kiev had warned Serbia about this problem repeatedly but to no avail.

In response to the ambassador, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic insisted that Serbia respected Ukraine’s territorial integrity and dealt with those who participate in foreign wars in the courts.

“Ukraine’s accusations against Serbia do not stand,” Dacic said, according to Serbia’s Tanjug news agency.

Earlier EFE reports, citing Ukrainian intelligence sources, have suggested that up to 300 Serbs have been involved in fighting for the pro-Russian side in eastern Ukraine and Crimea, motivated by the close links between Serbian and Russian nationalists.

Read more:

Facebook Reveals Serbian Fighters’ Role in Ukraine War

Romania Expels Serb for ‘Spying for Russia’

Russia ‘Using Serbia to Destroy Europe’, Ukraine Ambassador

Maja Zivanovic